right , 235px , James Main Dixon, 1902 James Main Dixon FRSE (1856, Paisley – 27 September 1933) was a Scottish teacher and author, and an important scholar of the

Scots language Scots ( endonym: ''Scots''; gd, Albais, ) is an Anglic language variety in the West Germanic language family, spoken in Scotland and parts of Ulster in the north of Ireland (where the local dialect is known as Ulster Scots). Most commonl ...

Life

He was born in Paisley in

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

the son of Rev J. M. Dixon. He graduated MA from the

University of St Andrews (Aien aristeuein) , motto_lang = grc , mottoeng = Ever to ExcelorEver to be the Best , established = , type = Public research university Ancient university , endowment ...

in 1879, and was appointed scholar and tutor of philosophy there in the same year. Dixon spent almost 12 years in Japan from 1880 to 1892. He was

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who professes". Professors ...

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

and secretary of the

Imperial College of Engineering The Imperial College of Engineering (工部大学校, ''Kōbudaigakkō'') was a Japanese institution of higher education that was founded during the Meiji Era. The college was established under the auspices of the Ministry of Public Works for ...

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

, Japan, from 1879 to 1886, when he was called to the Imperial University of Japan in the same capacity. There he taught Hidesaburo Saito, one of the first Japanese writers of English Grammar, and

Natsume Sōseki , born , was a Japanese novelist. He is best known around the world for his novels ''Kokoro'', ''Botchan'', ''I Am a Cat'', '' Kusamakura'' and his unfinished work '' Light and Darkness''. He was also a scholar of British literature and writer ...

, a famous novelist and ex-university professor, who disliked his style of teaching English literature. While

was in the 2nd year of his undergraduate program at

Tokyo University , abbreviated as or UTokyo, is a public research university located in Bunkyō, Tokyo, Japan. Established in 1877, the university was the first Imperial University and is currently a Top Type university of the Top Global University Project by ...

Dixon requested him to translate

Hōjōki , variously translated as ''An Account of My Hut'' or ''The Ten Foot Square Hut'', is an important and popular short work of the early Kamakura period (1185–1333) in Japan by Kamo no Chōmei. Written in March 1212, the work depicts the Buddhist ...

. Later on based on Sōseki's translation Dixon produced a new English translation of this work and also authored an article comparing Kamo no Chomei, the author of

and

William Wordsworth William Wordsworth (7 April 177023 April 1850) was an English Romantic poet who, with Samuel Taylor Coleridge, helped to launch the Romantic Age in English literature with their joint publication '' Lyrical Ballads'' (1798). Wordsworth's ' ...

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Among his other contributions in Japan, he is credited with the rediscovery (together with his friend,

Alexander Croft Shaw Alexander Croft Shaw M.A. (26 June 1846 – 13 March 1902) was a minister of the Anglican Church of Canada. He is remembered as Archdeacon Shaw, minister to the British Legation in Tokyo and a leading figure in the early years of the Anglica ...

), of former

Nakasendō The , also called the ,Richard Lane, ''Images from the Floating World'' (1978) Chartwell, Secaucus ; pg. 285 was one of the five routes of the Edo period, and one of the two that connected Edo (modern-day Tokyo) to Kyoto in Japan. There were 69 ...

post town A post town is a required part of all postal addresses in the United Kingdom and Ireland, and a basic unit of the postal delivery system.Royal Mail, ''Address Management Guide'', (2004) Including the correct post town in the address increases ...

of Karuizawa, and its popularization as a summer resort. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 1885. His proposers were

Robert Flint Robert Flint LLD DD (14 March 1838 – 1910) was a Scottish theologian and philosopher who wrote also on sociology. Life Flint was born at Greenburn, Sibbaldbie near Applegarth in Dumfriesshire on 14 March 1838, the son of Grace Johnston (' ...

, John Duns, William Swan, and his brother-in-law

Cargill Gilston Knott Cargill Gilston Knott FRS, FRSE LLD (30 June 1856 – 26 October 1922) was a Scottish physicist and mathematician who was a pioneer in seismological research. He spent his early career in Japan. He later became a Fellow of the Royal Society, ...

. From 1892 to 1901 he was professor of English literature at

Washington University Washington University in St. Louis (WashU or WUSTL) is a private research university with its main campus in St. Louis County, and Clayton, Missouri. Founded in 1853, the university is named after George Washington. Washington University is r ...

St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

, Mo. In 1902, when

Robert Burns Robert Burns (25 January 175921 July 1796), also known familiarly as Rabbie Burns, was a Scottish poet and lyricist. He is widely regarded as the national poet of Scotland and is celebrated worldwide. He is the best known of the poets who hav ...

' birthplace was reconstructed at the St. Louis World's Fair, Dixon was made Chairman of the Library and Museum Committee of the Burns Cottage Association. He explained:

I was brought up at
Ayr Ayr (; sco, Ayr; gd, Inbhir Àir, "Mouth of the River Ayr") is a town situated on the southwest coast of Scotland. It is the administrative centre of the South Ayrshire Subdivisions of Scotland, council area and the historic Shires of Scotlan ...
, the Burns neighborhood, and came from an Ayrshire family. My granduncle, John Gray, was town clerk of Ayr and secretary of the great Burns Festival of 1844, when 80,000 good people gathered in a field beside the cottage to honor the name of Ayr's most noted son. My youth was passed in the place where the 'twa brigs,' the
river Doon The River Doon ( gd, Abhainn Dhùin, ) is a river in Ayrshire, Scotland. Its course is generally north-westerly, passing near to the town of Dalmellington, and through the villages of Patna, Dalrymple, and Alloway, birthplace of Robert Burns. ...
,
Alloway Kirk The Alloway Auld Kirk, which dates back to the 16th Century, is a ruin in Alloway, South Ayrshire, Scotland, celebrated as the scene of the witches' dance in the poem " Tam o' Shanter" by Robert Burns. Robert Burns William Burnes, father of t ...
, Tam O'Shanter Inn, the ' Brig o' Doon' and the
Burns cottage Burns Cottage, the first home of Robert Burns is located in Alloway, South Ayrshire, Scotland. It was built by his father, William Burness in 1757. Burns, Scotland's national poet, was born there on 25 January 1759. It is a two-roomed clay and ...
and monument are all within a radius of three miles, and you must know that anything pertaining to Burns is indelibly impressed upon me."Burns' Birtplace Will be Rebuilt on the World's Fair Site," ''St. Louis Post-Dispatch'', 15 June 1902, 44.

In 1903–1904 he was president of Columbia College, in Milton,

Oregon Oregon () is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of its eastern boundary with Idaho. T ...

. He was professor of English literature at the

University of Southern California , mottoeng = "Let whoever earns the palm bear it" , religious_affiliation = Nonsectarian—historically Methodist , established = , accreditation = WSCUC , type = Private research university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $8.1 ...

from 1905 to 1911, when he was transferred to the chair of Oriental studies and

comparative literature Comparative literature is an academic field dealing with the study of literature and cultural expression across linguistic, national, geographic, and disciplinary boundaries. Comparative literature "performs a role similar to that of the study ...

. In 1906 he became editor of the '' West Coast Magazine''. In 1908, he received an honorary Doctor of Letters degree from Dickinson College. He died on 27 September 1933.

Writings

He compiled a ''Dictionary of Idiomatic English

Phrase In syntax and grammar, a phrase is a group of words or singular word acting as a grammatical unit. For instance, the English expression "the very happy squirrel" is a noun phrase which contains the adjective phrase "very happy". Phrases can consi ...

s'' (1891) and wrote: ''Twentieth Century Life of John Wesley'' (1902); "

Matthew Arnold Matthew Arnold (24 December 1822 – 15 April 1888) was an English poet and cultural critic who worked as an inspector of schools. He was the son of Thomas Arnold, the celebrated headmaster of Rugby School, and brother to both Tom Arnold, lit ...

," in ''Modern Poets and Christian Teaching'' (1906); and ''A Survey of Scottish Literature in the Nineteenth Century'' (1907). In 1920, he wrote, ''The Spiritual Meaning of

Tennyson Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson (6 August 1809 – 6 October 1892) was an English poet. He was the Poet Laureate during much of Queen Victoria's reign. In 1829, Tennyson was awarded the Chancellor's Gold Medal at Cambridge for one of his ...

's "In Memoriam"'' and ''Manual of Modern Scots''.

Family

His sister, Mary Dixon, married

in 1885.

References

External links

Dickinson College honorary degrees (lists death date)
** {{DEFAULTSORT:Dixon, James Main 1856 births 1933 deaths Writers from Paisley, Renfrewshire Alumni of the University of St Andrews Academics of the University of St Andrews University of Tokyo faculty Washington University in St. Louis faculty University of Southern California faculty Scottish biographers Scottish expatriates in Japan Scottish emigrants to the United States Scottish lexicographers Scottish literary critics Scottish philosophers Scottish scholars and academics Scottish magazine editors Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh